win Me giving me hassle

[Liam]

After updating to win me everything seemed fine for a while.
Then i started getting a few problems. the first is no internal modem will work, it just tries to dial (no noise or dial tone) and then says "hardware" problem", after trying 3 different modems, i think maybe the motherboard has had it as an external modem dials, and connects but doesnt load IE, but i think the software just needs re-installing. I used spybot to give it a quick check to see if any dialers or anything strange was stopping it from working and now after re-start we get a message "cpu has been changed" and pressing F1 is the only way to boot the pc. Anyone shed any light on any of this? general opinions welcome.

[ktkendall]

Sounds like your CMOS battery has coincidentally died because, "the cpu has been changed," message has nothing to do with WinME. It is way before windows even begins to load that you are seeing that message and that is resetting your BIOS each time when U press the F1 and go in there.

[GaryRouth]

. . . and if you haven't changed a CMOS battery before:

On most mainboards, it's a small coin-size battery, usually of the Sony 2032 type - about 3v. You can find replacements at your local computer store, or Radio Shack, or electronics store. They cost about $1.50 USD.

You'll need to shutdown Windows, power off the computer, and unplug the power cord. Then open the case, and gently lift the old battery out (there's usually a little [very little] clamp holding it in - try not to bend it, but move it just enough to lift out the old battery). After you put the new one in, you'll have to enter Bios Setup [by pressing the key mentioned in the startup banner message "Press F1 (or DEL, F10, etc) to Enter Setup"]. Once in Bios Setup, you'll need to enter all the values again [or perhaps choose "Load Defaults and Exit" if you're in a hurry - you can tune the Bios settings later].

If you can scare up a manual for your motherboard, that would help you choose the best settings: most manuals can be found on the Internet these days. Often your motherboard's model no. is silkscreened onto the board.

Some settings you'll want to pay attention to regarding your modem issues: any onboard devices that you are not planning to use (onboard video, audio, modem, lan, serial ports). Unless you have ISA cards (which fit in older, longer black colored slots - PCI are usually shorter and often white) leave the IRQ assignments to "Auto". For any bios settings you want more advice on, you can check out Adrians famous "Bios Optimization Guide" over at http://www.rojakpot.com

And you'll probably want to boot into Safe Mode sometime, in case some of the older modems or other cards aren't still listed in Device Manager. . . if older equipment that's no longer present is still loading drivers, it can cause problems. You can reach Device Manager: Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[P.S. . . . noticed this is your first post here. Welcome to the PC Mechanic forums!]

[Liam]

Thank You for help, greatly appreciated, very kind =) Sorted. Thanx again, and ty for the welcome.